The present invention relates to devices used in endoscopic surgery and, more particularly, to a user interface of an endoscopic imaging system.
During the course of endoscopic surgery the surgeon or staff may interact with an endoscopic video system to change system parameters. A typical user interface allows convenient control of parameters such as white balance, image zoom, or still image capture. To make parameter selections easily accessible to the surgeon most endoscopic video systems today include one or more buttons placed on the camera head. Some endoscopic systems may include a touch pad interface operable by surgical staff for parameter setting as a parallel backup to the camera head buttons. In currently marketed systems, user interface input, whether by the surgeon or staff, typically originates in the same room with the patient and endoscopic equipment.
Some newer endoscopic imaging equipment can interact with the world outside the operating room. One feature of these newer systems is the ability to stream video and audio to observers elsewhere in the hospital or across the Internet. These transmissions can be planned or spontaneous but preferably require notification of the surgeon and a grant of the surgeon's permission.
The surgeon needs a way to respond to requests for streaming video connections or other actions associated with the new wider reach of his equipment without unnecessarily complicating the user interface that has been designed for the specific purpose of endoscopic surgery. The medical surgical environment can quickly become hectic and require quick decisions and action so intuitive and simple user interfaces are desirable.
There exists a need to maintain the advantage of a simple user interface for a specific job while allowing the expansion of capability made necessary by today's network connected medical equipment.